Prisoners rioted Sunday at Haiti's main prison, hours before the inauguration of President-elect Rene Preval. Gunfire was heard within its walls and scores of inmates massed on the roof holding what appeared to be two dead bodies.The riot broke out at the national penitentiary, about a half-mile (kilometer) from the parliament building where Preval was to be inaugurated at midday Sunday.About 100 prisoners were on the roof of the prison, according to journalists from AP Television News. Rioters held aloft what appeared to be two dead inmates, chanted "freedom or death" and unfurled a banner saying "Justice."There was no immediate official word on casualties. Haitian police and U.N. peacekeeping troops surrounded the prison.... http://www.cnn.com

Heavily-armed gangsters attacked police posts in Brazil's Sao Paulo state for a second night in the worst spate of crime-related violence in the country's industrial and business heartland in memory. A total of 52 police, civilians and gangsters have been killed in two nights of coordinated attacks by a criminal gang in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, security officials said on Sunday. A further 53 people have been wounded in the worst wave of crime-related violence in Brazil's wealthiest state in recent memory. Prisoners have also rioted in about 20 penitentiaries. "We are all indignant and in a state of mourning," Sao Paulo city mayor Gilberto Kassab said on Saturday night. "It's not a war. It's a battle, which we will win." ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1960170

Fourteen people have died and six were hurt in a double suicide attack near Baghdad airport, on a day of violence that claimed at least 30 lives in Iraq. The blasts took place in a car park close to the airport compound, the US military said. Militants north of the capital also attacked the Iraqi foreign minister's convoy, killing two of his bodyguards. The violence came a day after two British soldiers died in a bombing near Basra, the British army said. The province's governor has suspended the local police chief and asked for the military commander in the area to be removed, accusing both men of having terrorist links. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4769633.stm

Pope Benedict XVI renewed his attack on homosexual "marriage" yesterday, saying Christians must defend marriage as a "pillar of humanity" benefiting both believers and nonbelievers. Calling on the faithful to stand up for traditional notions of marriage and procreation in the face of moves to recognize same-sex unions, he said: "Such a witness can only stimulate politicians and legislators to safeguard the rights of the family. "It's well-known that legal solutions like so-called 'civil unions' are gaining ever-greater acceptance, even if, while they exclude the responsibilities of marriage, they claim the same rights," he said in a speech to the Pontifical Council for the Family. "Sometimes, there is the wish even to change the definition of marriage to legalize homosexual unions, granting them the right to adopt children." The comments were stronger than remarks Benedict made two days ago, which were criticized by some members of Italy's incoming liberal government as ...http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060514-123045-7115r.htm

About 4,000 South Korean protesters were prevented from proceeding to a rally by riot police in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, amid concern the demonstrations against the relocation of the U.S. military headquarters may turn violent and will harm relations between the two countries. About 19,000 riot police officers wielding batons and shields prevented the protesters, including farmers, students and labor union members, from accessing the site where demonstrators had planned to begin their rally at 10 a.m. Korea time in Pyeongtaek, 65 kilometers south of Seoul, an organizer and police said. ``We demand the government stop construction of the new base in the city, and map out the project from the beginning,'' You Young Jae, a spokesman of Pan-South Korean Solution Committee Against U.S. base extension in Pyeongtaek, said today in a phone interview. ``The government should scrap its earlier assignment of defense facility areas in the rice-farming city.'' No one was injured ...http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=agpB3VGcwwBw&refer=home

Israel's High Court on Sunday narrowly upheld a law that denies Israeli residency to many Palestinians who marry Israelis, rejecting appeals against a statute critics say violates human rights and is racist. The restrictions, an amendment to Israel's Citizenship Law, affect thousands of Palestinian and Israeli Arab couples. Marriages between Palestinians and Israeli Jews are rare. "The Palestinian Authority is an enemy government, a government that wants to destroy the (Jewish) state and is not willing to recognize Israel," Justice Michel Cheshin said in support of the 6-5 ruling against the appeals. In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Aharon Barak said the amendment violated civil rights. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1960182